Princeton scientists print 3D bionic ear

Scientists at Princeton University used a 3D printing—often used for printing 3D ornamental objects—to produce a bionic ear capable of receiving sound a million times higher than our human ears.

The synthetic ear, which is not meant for human use, was created by depositing layers of living cow cells onto a gel medium that slowly built up into a three-dimensional structure; scientists then added silver particles into a coiled antenna that can pick up radio signals, which were interpreted by the ears as sound. It took the model 10 weeks inside a petri dish to be fully-cultivated and functional.

The new research is one step forward in the field of cybernetics—an area that combines biology and technology. This new field could move toward organ printing and body-part printing as well as computer-aided tissue engineering.

The team of Princeton researchers broadcasted Beethoven’s “Für Elise” to the fully-cultivated ears and the coiled wires that served as an antenna allowed music to flow without interference through a set of speakers. This allowed researchers to test the sound capability of the bionic ear.

Advertisement

“As the world becomes a more digital and electronic place, I think ultimately we’re going to care less about our traditional five senses,” Michael McAlpine, the professor who led the project, told the Associated Press. “And we’re going to want these new senses to give us direct electronic communication with our cellphones and our laptop devices.”